France deserts the sinking ship of Europe

06.03.2013

A few days ago the news emerged that France might be preparing to leave the EU. Marine Le Pen, head of "National Front" party, argues that France has no future in the EU, and if the country wants to develop further, it should seriously consider the option of self-navigation. Is this the case and what could France expect if it is no longer a member of the EU?

French Party "National Front" and its leader Marine Le Pen boldly declared their decision to withdraw France from the European Union. French policy has changed dramatically over the last few years. "National Front" is a party with 40 years of experience, and over this time its views have undergone radical changes. Why such a dramatic change in attitude and ideology in "National Front"?

Le Pen believes that, above all, the political and economic situation in the world has changed, and the country has entered an era of globalization, which, in turn, led to a drastic change in "National Front," one of the few parties that managed to perfectly adapt to the global environment. The party leader said that 25 years ago "National Front" was known as a strictly liberal party that did not share opposing political views.

Being liberal at the time meant advocating for the establishment of the market economy under the framework determined by the government. Now there are no permanent borders and frameworks. Due to these major changes the party, not to be lost on the margins of history, has transformed its views and turned to ultra-liberalism. Today, political views of "National Front" are clear.

Marine Le Pen advocates the creation of a strong and strategic state and establishment of an arbitrator state. Is it possible? What means would be good to achieve this goal? The answer may be quite ambiguous. First of all, the party leader stated her desire to radically change the country, but keep the previously established international relationships with many leading countries. Le Pen said that first the situation in the country had to be changed, and the politics, which is its integral part, had to be flexible and adjust.

The leader of "National Front" stated that, in her opinion, the European Union was already dead. Is this true and why, then, dozens of states still strive to become the EU's honorary members? Le Pen said that today's media deliberately ascribed the EU nonexistent benefits and achievements, saying that the European Union was alive and developing, but this is not true. Le Pen added that the established European currency was also dead, as well as the organization itself. He stated the need to keep up with the time, to notice the collapse of the European Union and be able to leave the sinking ship.

The leader of the French party talked about the attempts to save the euro at all costs. Le Pen does not want her people to follow the example of the Irish who were forced to reduce the minimum wage by 12 percent or drastically cut state family allowances and unemployment benefits. Lowering the generally accepted level of life is another step towards the abyss. If the currency needs to be saved at this price, the price of the people, it would be much more humane to simply get out of the EU and completely abandon the euro, said Le Pen.

In an interview with "Euronews" Le Pen said that Europe was quite capable of getting out of the situation, if it were to adhere to the previously established concepts. But today, Le Pen saw the future of Europe without France in the EU. She talked about the possibility of France's withdrawal from the European Union earlier, but had never called the exact date of the referendum. The head of the French opposition expressed the opinion of the "National Front" demanding from President Francois Hollande a referendum on the withdrawal of France from the EU.

Le Pen proposed a specific date for the referendum - January of 2014. Why this date? The choice is clear, as in January of 2014 the next elections to the European Parliament will be held, and this is when France should express its will to withdraw from the EU. Marine Le Pen did not choose the time for such an initiative by accident. Her words today have a great weight, as the crisis in the euro area is obvious, and the arguments of Euro-skeptics are now becoming increasingly more convincing.

The result of recent elections in the Italian Parliament won by populist politicians, including Beppe Grillo, who proposed a referendum on Italy's withdrawal from the euro zone, is another striking example of the changing situation in the EU. During a meeting of the "National Front" leadership on Saturday, Le Pen spoke about the inability of the government to solve domestic problems that largely stem from the EU. Whether her predictions about the collapse of the European Union are realistic is a big question, but there are definitely some doubts. In addition to sharp criticism of the official policy of Brussels in terms of the economy, Le Pen criticized border controls within the EU.

She believes that the forthcoming entry into the Schengen area of ​​Romania and Bulgaria will have very negative consequences for France. France's decision to significantly tighten its immigration policy may be jeopardized, and the opposition does not want it to happen. So far it is not clear whether Marine Le Pen will be successful in her initiative but, judging by her rapidly growing popularity, this is realistic. Through a broad eloquent advocacy of her political views, Le Pen has managed to perfectly strengthen the position of her party.

Thanks to a new wave of global economic crisis, at the presidential elections in France in the spring of 2012 she became a serious competition to the leaders of the election campaign - Socialist Francois Hollande and President Nicolas Sarkozy. In the following election to the National Assembly she managed to become a member of the French Parliament.

Le Pen is open about her mistrust of the French Government. In an interview with "Euronews" she said that withdrawal from the EU was the only sensible way out of this situation. It is difficult to say whether such a radical solution will stabilize the state of affairs in France. However, Le Figaro wrote that in many years such drastic political and economic measures have not been taken, and that this shake-up in the political life of France and the entire Europe can put everything in its place.